


New Residents

by Aveture



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Gen, Gens I-VIII, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24384622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aveture/pseuds/Aveture
Summary: What's the thing in common between a sweet, amnesiac Skitty and a rowdy, free-spirited Pikachu? Nothing really, but they sure are determined to make a famous rescue team of themselves and discover their pasts and futures together.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Cat and Mouse

It all started with a typical afternoon stroll through the woods. A lone Pikachu would often spend an hour or so walking the trails on the outskirts of whichever small community she would be staying at. This week happened to be near Pokemon Square, the largest civilisation and central hub of their region of this world. It once held a large population of humans running the cities but they apparently have either migrated away or have gone extinct long ago. Now the only inhabitants were the Pokemon themselves, still maintaining some meager replica of what once was. Most of the technologies and cultural aspects that were commonplace many generations ago have now been permanently lost to history. Now only the few remaining ancient and wisest individuals could partially recall them.

Getting back on track, Light had been doing this routine for the past two months to ease her mind of the day’s stress. Until recently, the world as she knew it had been fairly peaceful. Now, there seems to be more and more disasters happening all over their region. In response, many brave Pokemon were signing up for the opportunity to help others in need in the form of rescue teams. What was once a somewhat low demand job was now often looking for new members or forming entirely new teams themselves when existing parties had no room for more recruits.

Light herself had become eager to join, admittedly it was for the sake of adventure, but so far none of the locally established teams seemed to have a need for a low level Pikachu like herself. Hearing it from others always irritated her, especially since she was thirteen when she finally evolved from a Pichu, just two years ago. It was way later than when she was supposed to, and she’d rather not dwell too much on why that was so. “I could be strong if they just let me join.” she thought to herself. She was so deep in thought she almost failed to notice the mound of pink she was about to step on.

“What?” She quipped as she glanced down. There sleeping at her feet was a Pokemon about her age, a Skitty with slightly curled fur. But why take a nap out here in the middle of the path? Light could easily walk past but felt it necessary to wake the Skitty so she could at least nap elsewhere.

“Hey, are you alright? Can you wake up?” She asked while lightly prodding at the kitten. “You have to wake up!”

To her relief, the Skitty began to stir before letting out a yawn. They glanced around at their surroundings, which they seemed confused about for some reason, before resting their eyes on Light.

“Oh good, you’re awake. That’s a relief. I just thought you’d like to know it’s not very safe to be sleeping in the middle of the trail like this.” There was a short pause before the little Skitty answered her.

“You’re a Pikachu.” She muttered. “But how are you talking?”

“How? Every Pokemon can talk, everyone knows that. You’re even doing it right now!” Light answered now unsure if Skitty really was okay.

“What do you mean, me? I’m not a Pokemon like you, I’m a human.” She explained. Now it was Light’s turn to be confused.

“Human? But you look like an ordinary Skitty to me. Are you okay in the head?” Light explained while gesturing to her.

Skitty was about to retort then decided to take a look at herself to prove it to the weird mouse. Rising confusion became apparent as she noticed furry paws, large pointed ears, and a puffy pink tail were all indeed parts of herself.

“How did this happen? I’m a Skitty!” She shouted in alarm. “This has to be a dream!”

“Whoa take it easy! You must have been through something rough, I bet.” She was going to have to handle this gently, not one of her strong points. She figured introductions would be a starting point. “I’m Lightning but you can call me Light. What’s your name?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s Starla..” The Skitty, Starla, said now that she realized Light isn’t so bad.

There was a soft snort from Light. “Starla? That’s kind of a weird name for a Skitty.”

Or maybe Starla guessed too soon. Before she could say anything, there was a shout from deeper into the trees that caught both of their attention. A Butterfree emerged from the treeline and flew right over toward the pair.

“Please, you have to help me! It’s urgent!” She cried out as she stopped in front of them.

“What happened Ma’am?” Light asked in alarm.

“It’s my baby, Caterpie! A fissure opened up in the woods and he had fallen in! I tried to retrieve him but I was attacked by other Pokemon!” She pointed to herself for emphasis, one of her antennas had been chewed on, not to mention the scrape on her left side from the supposed attack. “The fissure must have agitated them! Please save him, before the others find him! I can’t bear to think what would happen!”

Light wanted to explain they weren’t cut out for rescue work just yet despite her desire for rescue adventures, until she looked over at Starla. Starla, meanwhile, was busy with her own thoughts. She felt sympathy for Butterfree. She couldn’t walk away from this, not when young children were in danger.

“We can go get him for you, right Light?” Starla looked to Light hoping she would agree.

Without thinking, Light piped up. “Y-Yeah, of course. Let’s go!” She raced off toward the tiny woods with Starla tagging behind. They both hoped they wouldn’t be too late.


	2. Speedy Lightning and Stolen Thunder

“So where is this place?” Starla asked as she eyed the greenery around them.

“This little forest we’re in is called the Tiny Woods, and you’re really far from home aren’t you? Most Pokemon in this area know the names of these dungeons by heart.” Light said with a light sigh. Surely this Starla must have bonked her head and scrambled her memories.

“These places are called mystery dungeons. There are many all over the world and they probably are magical, because the paths and rooms are laid out differently every time to enter them. No one really knows why that is.” Light explained. “Lucky for us, this dungeon is pretty small so finding Caterpie should be quick.”

Light decided to lead the way since she basically knew this place better than Starla, and knew what Pokemon they could encounter. It was quiet in the woods today, eerily quiet. Even Starla was keeping her voice down, until Light felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Say Light, is this okay to eat?” Light turned around and was shown a small blue colored berry.

Light nodded. “Yes, it’s an Oran Berry. Though it’s not very filling. I’d hold onto it until we run into real trouble. You know, since they’re much better at restoring your health.”

“Trouble, like him maybe?” Starla pointed at something past Light. She turned around and was face to face with a Wurmple. Normally she saw them as no threat, but that strange look in his eye suddenly had her on high alert.

To Light’s surprise and dismay, Starla stepped up and attempted to talk to the mad worm. “Hey, mister.. We’re not gonna cause trouble, we’re just looking for a missing Caterpie. Do you know where he is?”

“Wait, I don’t think he’s-” Before she could warn her, the Wurmple suddenly lunged forward and butted Starla to the ground.

“Yow!” Starla yelped as she scrambled away from him.

“Stand back Starla, I’ll handle him.” Light felt her cheeks buzzing as she took a defensive stance. “Let us through or else!”

Wurmple wasn’t to be intimidated so easily. He shot out a sticky web to slow her speed, but missed. Light anticipated this and just barely managed to dodge the String Shot. Angered now, she charged up her electricity and unleashed a well aimed Thundershock. It hit him square in the side, causing him to twitch and writhe from the pain. Now that he was curled up in a ball in defeat, Light went to check on Starla.

“You okay Starla?” Light held out a paw to help her back up.

Starla nodded while fixing her fur. “Yeah, he just startled me. I don’t know why he would attack us.”

“It’s like what Miss Butterfree said. The Pokemon here must have been awfully shaken up by the fissure opening. They’re not thinking clearly, I’m guessing.” Light looked around in case any more Pokemon were coming their way. “It can’t be much further now.”

“I think that’s the fissure over there.” Starla pointed out. The two hurried over before anything else would happen.

Light climbed down first, in case someone else was down there. The crevice wasn’t as deep as she thought it would be, which meant it wouldn’t be too difficult climbing back out. At the bottom, it opened up into a small room just big enough for a few Pokemon of their size to squeeze into. She helped Starla climb the final two steps and glanced around. There huddling the far corner was Caterpie, sobbing softly to himself. “Mommy, come back.. I’m so scared…”

“Hey, are you okay?” Starla called out. Caterpie jumped and turned around to face them.

“Your mom sent us to get you out of here. Can you move okay?.” Light asked while holding out a paw to him.

Caterpie sniffled. “I’m okay. I wanna go home now..”

The two rescuers silently nodded to each other. It was time to bring him back home. Caterpie crawled over to Light who lifted him onto her back as she prepared to climb back to the surface. Starla reached the top first to check for any signs of danger but saw none. “All clear.”

The walk back to the entrance was mostly uneventful, save for the last moments. Two Pokemon turned the corner toward them, Starla and Light prepared for another battle as Caterpie hid behind them. The two Pokemon stopped short upon noticing them.

“Hey, you two kids!” A female voice rang out from the smaller of the two. Now that they stepped into the light, Starla and Light could see they meant no harm. The mystery pair were not native to the Tiny Woods, a Sableye and a Banette. They were a rescue team by the looks of their badges, though Light didn’t recognize them. The Sableye called out to them again. “There’s no fear with Team Shade on the case!”

A look of confusion appeared on Starla’s face, Light’s less so. The Banette noticed this and he stepped forward. “Yeahhh, we heard little Caterpie had fallen in a hole and two other kids went in after him. His mom wasn’t sure if you two were okay, s-since you didn’t look like a rescue team.”

“No, we’re all okay. Even Caterpie.” Starla answered as she stepped aside to show they indeed found and rescued the tiny bug.

Sableye’s confident stature faltered a little upon hearing that. “Oh. That’s wonderful for you both. Tiny Woods isn’t very big after all so it makes sense someone would find him so soon, ha ha. Our work is done!” She whirled around and marched back toward the entrance. Banette nodded at the two of them before leading them back out of the woods.

Once back outside, Caterpie suddenly raced forward the moment he caught sight of his mother. “Mama! I missed you! I was so scared but those Pokemon saved me!” He cried out motioning over to Starla and Light.

“Oh my precious boy, you’re safe and sound now!” Butterfree cooed with tears in her eyes. “Thank you little ones! I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him!”

“And we helped escort them back.” Sableye muttered quietly.

Starla managed to overhear them thanks to her larger ears. “Yes thanks for your help too, Team Shade was it?”

“You all deserve a reward. I do have a few berries here..” Butterfree brought up a small berry bag. She fluttered up to the four heroes to hand them the prizes. Starla and Light were given two berries, an Oran and a Pecha, while Team Shade was given a Rawst berry.

“You two really are more capable than I first thought. Can I have your names at least?” Butterfree asked.

“I’m Light, and this is Starla. Make sure you tell the rescue teams about us.” Light said, then realized there was one right there, Team Shade. “Say, is there any chance for me and Starla to join your team?”

Sableye shook her head. “Nope, sorry. We just made this team ourselves a few days ago. We haven’t had the funds to get a place for other Pokemon to stay with us yet.”

“Oh. That’s too bad. I’ll just keep looking I guess.” Light said with a sigh.

“Cheer up dear. You’ll get your chance soon enough if it’s what you really want.” Butterfree added. “But for now, it’s about time for Caterpie and I to head home. The sun is already going down. Goodbye, and thank you everyone!” She said while fluttering off.

“Yeah, thanks!” Caterpie chimed as he crawled home as well.

“Well, we didn’t do an actual mission like we wanted. But at least we got a berry, th-that’s good right?.” Banette asked as he put it in the team’s bag.

“Sure. We’ll just try harder tomorrow. See you kids.” Sableye waved as the team headed home too.

Starla hummed to herself. Everyone else had a home here. She was at a loss of where to go. “Hey Light? Is there somewhere for me to stay? I don’t want to be alone out here in the woods.”

Oh right, Light thought. With her memories apparently gone, she needed to at least find a bed for Starla even if it was just for a night. “There is a place I’m bunking down in. There’s enough room for you too, if you want to stay.”

“Really? Where?”

“It’s uh, just over there.” Light pointed down the road towards a small wooden shack that reminded Starla of an acorn. As she stared more at it, the more she grew to admire how quaint it was for a starting home.

“Aww Light, it’s cute!” Starla commented. Light’s cheeks turned a slightly redder color at hearing that.

“Yeah well, it’s because I just moved in. I’m gonna make it something cool someday once I can get into a rescue team. I’ve been trying for a while now but I had no luck so far. If only I can prove just how awesome I am.”

“Why not start a new one?” Starla asked. She could tell the Pikachu hadn’t considered it by the widening eyes and growing smile.  
Light was getting more excited by the second, bouncing around as she explained her plan for a team. “Yeah, I should! We should! We’ve proven ourselves today than we can do it. We can help so many Pokemon all over this world. There’s been so many disasters lately so we’re sure to make an impact. I just thought of a name and everything too! Man there’s so much of the world for us to see too! Oh by the way, did you want to be a part of my team?”

Starla nodded at the offer without hesitation. It did sound like a lot of work but it certainly wasn’t dull if today proved anything. “Then that settles it. I’ll send a letter to the post office right away letting them know that we’re ready to make the world a better place as Team Dazzle!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this came out longer than I thought it would. New chapters will most likely be longer from now on.
> 
> Light and Starla are gonna be an official rescue team! Guest starring Team Shade, another rescue team of my OCs. They probably won't reappear again anytime soon. Fun fact: these two ghosties are also based off of some of my main Pokemon team I used for Emerald way back in the day. They do have names but they will be revealed in time.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came about as I had been played through Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX in the past week. As much as I love the story in-game, this story is not going to follow it exactly to make it a tad more unique.
> 
> Maybe it would make up for my previous fic laying abandoned.


End file.
